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Thursday, August 11, 2011

The Nepean Times newspaper reported on 23rd November 1912 that Inspector Childs attended the scene of a break and enter and robbery at Valley Heights Station. Childs used the relatively new technique of fingerprinting in order to apprehend the perpetrators. Childs rose to the position of Commissioner of Police and when he retired in 1935, he was succeeded by W.J. MacKay.Ref:Nepean Times 23.11.1912

Valley Heights Station

Crossing and railway gatehouse

HISTORY OF FINGERPRINTS IN AUSTRALIA

In 1901, Mr. Sam McCauley, Deputy Controller of Prisons and Inspector of Prisons in New South Wales, investigated the use and classification of fingerprints at New Scotland yard and on his return recommended that fingerprinting and classification under the Henry System be introduced to New South Wales Gaols.

In 1902, fingerprinting commenced in New South Wales Gaols, and a Fingerprint Bureau was established in the Darlinghurst Gaol under the Direction of Sam McCauley. Following its successful introduction, it was recommended that the system be introduced in the other States of Australia and New Zealand.

In 1903, Senior Sergeant W.H. Childs, of the New South Wales Police Force, received training from Mr. McCauley and also spent several weeks at the Darlinghurst Gaol Bureau. In June 1903, the Prisons Department handed over approximately 6,000 copies of fingerprint impressions to the New South Wales Police Department. The New South Wales Police Fingerprint Bureau was established at the Detectives' Office of Police Headquarters, with Senior Sergeant Childs as Officer in Charge.

* The newspaper article is valueable for several reasons because it suggests the status of the clientelle who came to stay at the guest house during the economic downturn of the 1930s, and that despite the hard times being experienced by the working class, the upper classes still had considerable purchasing power. It also dates the period when the McIntosh family leased the property from the Dawsons.